Monday, April 9, 2007

arabian night

When this soup recipe showed up in my inbox a few weeks back, I wasn't sure when we would get a chance to make it since the weather was starting to turn warm. Luckily for us, the weather decided to stay wintery a bit longer so we decided to keep warm with this hearty soup.This is a classic North African (Tunisian) soup recipe, with lots of deep Moroccan flavour. The traditional spices include tumeric, cumin, and a touch of cinnamon. It is usually finished off with a dried fruit garnish (to add a bit of sweetness) but I knew that Mony wouldn't give the soup a chance if I included the dried fruit so instead I added sliced carrots to try to mirror the flavour. This soup also includes chickpeas which stay a bit firm, yet add nice creaminess to the soup.This is a simple recipe, with a lot of complex flavours. Definitely a keeper.Plus it got two big thumbs up from the man of the house. That's always a good sign.

Accompanying the delicious stew, we had a vegetable tart that I made on the weekend. This is a neat technique that involves roasting an assortment of vegetables and layering them in a pie pan. The vegetables I used were eggplant, zucchini, red onions, and colourful peppers (red, yellow, orange). Simply roast them lightly with a bit of olive oil and salt & pepper. Then layer them in your favourite pie pan and let sit over night so the flavours develop fully. It's also best if you can weight it down so you get a nice slice when cutting into it.This will be especially wonderful in the summertime...a perfect summer side dish.